Derek Lee and Patrick Present discuss the progression of AHL rookies Sidorov, Pastujov, Colangelo, Myatovic along with Nesterenko and Gaucher Sam Colangelo (23) has yo-yoed a bit from the NHL to the AHL in his first professional season after a four-year NCAA career. Sam Colangelo's Big 36 Hours [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/latest-news/sam-colangelos-big-36-hours] The Anaheim Ducks recalled him twice from the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. He's played 12 games with the "big club" in the NHL, but he's scored just one goal. With Anaheim, he was recalled in late November and was held off the scoresheet for eight games while playing a fourth-line role before he was reassigned to San Diego. "He's an interesting player because he can score," Ducks head coach Greg Cronin said during that time. "He's had a history of scoring; I think he was definitely a top five or six goal scorer in college. "He can skate, and our adage is: if you're getting hits and you're getting sticks into battles, you're skating there, right? If you're not on that spreadsheet, you're probably not skating fast enough. "He's a player that can connect himself to those stats symbolically and make that just a reflection of his ability to get up and down the ice and finish checks. Which is not in the same bubble as a goal scorer, but he knows he has to do that to play in the lineup." In the 2023-24 season, he tallied 43 points (24-29=43) in 38 games for Western Michigan in his senior year of college before making his professional hockey debut in April. He scored four points (1-3=4) in four games with the Gulls and finished the season with one point, his first NHL goal, in three games with the Ducks. He was the oldest skater at Ducks rookie camp and performed well at the ensuing 2024 training camp, but the Ducks had a virtually set top nine and thought it best to send him to the AHL to start the season. Colangelo was the Gulls' representative at the AHL All-Star weekend and currently co-leads (Sasha Pastujov) the team in scoring with 33 points (18-15=33) in 34 games. "Try to stick to that mindset that I developed when I transferred to Western, just get better every day," Colangelo said of his thought process after he was sent to San Diego in October. "When I got sent down, it was a tough day or two. I just wanted to go down there and try to keep working and get back up here." Colangelo was recalled for the Ducks' season-long six-game road trip in January, a trip that very well may have cost the team a true spot in a playoff race where they went 1-4-1. Due to an injury to Trevor Zegras and an absence from Troy Terry, Colangelo suited up for four games in that stretch and played a true top-nine role. He scored a goal while playing in Terry's usual spot on the wing of Ryan Strome, opposite Frank Vatrano for two games, and played the next two on the wing of Leo Carlsson, opposite Alex Killorn. When healthy, Robby Fabbri has been a staple in the Ducks' top nine and has played most often on the wing of Mason McTavish, opposite Cutter Gauthier. While Fabbri's an energetic puck-hunter who can finish on occasion, he's had a difficult time building plays and creating space for the talented young players he's been paired with. Though skating and play-driving may have been knocks on his game when he was drafted five years ago (36th overall in 2020), Colangelo had significantly refined his game during his college career and continues to do so in the AHL. He pressures well on the forecheck, and his skating has become a strength, with a powerful stride and strong edges in small areas. He excels at finding lanes to present himself as a passing option in the neutral zone and entering the offensive zone, where he can utilize his above-average release from the perimeter. He scores most of his goals from around the crease, where he consistently wins battles and sniffs out loose pucks. The net front has been an area of focus for Cronin and the Ducks coaching staff in 2024-25, so Colangelo's game should be endearing to them. The Ducks score at the worst clip in the NHL (2.48 goals per game), so injecting Colangelo, an AHL All-Star into their top nine who has scored 11 points (5-6=11) in his last 10 games could provide some needed finishing ability to a team averaging two goals per game in their last four heading into the NHL 4 Nations break. Pat Verbeek voiced his desire to add a top-six right-shot forward to the Ducks lineup nearly a year ago and notably failed to ink a pair of them in the offseason (Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault). He may have had one under his nose this entire time in Sam Colangelo. Right now, seven games before the trade deadline seems like a good time to find out. Ducks Goaltending Prospect Departs Sweden for Finland [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/latest-news/ducks-goaltending-prospect-departs-sweden-for-finland] NHL Awards Watch: Ducks Goaltenders Might be in Vezina Conversation [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/latest-news/nhl-awards-watch-ducks-goaltenders-might-be-in-vezina-conversation]
